The union agreed in April to a strike over teachers’ pay and workload, they will be joined by members of UNISON, UNITE, GMB, PCS and the FBU who are also striking over pay.

The strike has already led to the closure of 17 schools in Suffolk, including six in Ipswich, and 42 schools being partially affected.

In Essex 39 schools are to be closed, and 67 partially affected.

Members of the NUT in Suffolk will meet at Giles Circus in Ipswich for a rally at 11am tomorrow and then march through the town with members of other unions.

Graham White, secretary of Suffolk NUT, said the union had to object to the proposals of the government.

“You have a simply choice really,” he said. “Either you say that government wins and we’ll accept lower pay, we’ll accept people dying on the job, we’ll accept the massive recruitment and retention crisis, and 40% of teachers leaving some schools in a year, we’re not going to do anything about it.

“But that’s a ridiculous point to take, that’s why we have to continue to fight for what we believe in and to protect the education system.”

He also threatened that the union could take multiple day strike action in the future and said that he hoped the strike would “have an impact on the election” by making more people aware of the policies of the current government.

However the Department for Education said further strikes would only disrupt the lives of parents, hold back children’s education and damage the reputation of the profession.

A spokesman added: “There is no justification for further strikes. The unions asked for talks, we agreed to their request and talks are ongoing. Ministers have also met frequently with the unions and will continue to do so.”

Teachers are striking to keep education sustainable for the future. The public went to school once so they are experts in education now. The public also pay taxes so they think that they are experts in remuneration and employment contracts. I laugh at the ridiculous comments that are made by Joe public every time thereis a strike it makes me cringe. When you look at the number of schools affected it's hardly any, also it's the end of the school year.. This strike isn't a bad one by any stretch, year 11,12 and 13 won't be affected either as they've done their exams for the year. I'm not supporting or against teachers I just find the cliché comments so boring and predictable that I feel as though it's groundhog day..

@pandy Usual right-wing nonsense. Who brought the world's major economies to the brink of collapse? Was it school teachers? No. Was it nurses? No. Was it firefighters? No. But these are the people who the Tories would like to blame and are being made to pay for the mistakes of those who DID bring the country to its knees.

What bizarre comments from Maria? Does she not realise that basically this Country is broke and up to its eyes in debt, caused by successive Governments borrowing too keep everybody in living standards they expect but cannot afford? Unions such as the Teachers Unions here carry on this fairytale without any concern at all for the childrens education they disrupt. Just where do they think the money is going to come from?

I think Tamara is right. Schools make a big deal out of the disruption caused to childrens education by sick days and holidays but do not hesitate to cause the same disruption they condemn. I would suggest parents get together and produce a collective fine of £60 per student per strike day.